As Novartis turns the calendar on a new year, the Swiss drugmaker is elaborating further on plans for the $23 billion U.S. investment it unveiled last April.<\/p>\n
Next on the docket will be a new, 35,000-square-foot radioligand therapy (RLT) facility in Winter Park, Florida, Novartis reported<\/a> Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joining established plants in Novartis\u2019 American RLT network in Indiana, New Jersey and California, the new facility will boost the company’s radiopharmaceutical manufacturing to \u201coptimize the delivery\u201d of the cutting-edge cancer treatments to patients across the southeastern United States, Novartis said in a Jan. 9 press release. The upcoming site is expected to come online by 2029, the company added.\u00a0<\/p>\n While radiopharmaceuticals, which target<\/a> cancer cells with a radioactive drug, have become an increasingly popular oncology development target, few have crossed the regulatory finish line so far. Novartis, however, boasts two approved RLTs in Lutathera and Pluvicto, which have been cleared by the FDA to treat neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer, respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cBuilding this new facility in Florida marks an important step in fulfilling the promise of RLT for patients,\u201d Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said in a statement Friday. \u201cRadioligand therapy has fundamentally changed how we approach certain cancers, and our growing U.S. manufacturing network ensures we can continue to deliver these critical medicines with speed and reliability to patients who need them.\u201d<\/p>\n As for why the company selected Florida for its new site, RLT manufacturing requires “specialized talent,” and the state has that in droves thanks to steady investments in higher education for life sciences and technology, Novartis explained in its release.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Florida RLT facility marks the latest stop on Novartis\u2019 $23 billion U.S. investment drive. The company revealed the investment plan<\/a> early last year as drugmakers sought to counter the Trump administration\u2019s pharmaceutical tariff threats by building or expanding production facilities on U.S. soil.<\/p>\n Novartis specifically pledged to build and expand 10 U.S. sites through 2030, including four new manufacturing plants and fresh radioligand facilities in Florida and Texas. Novartis\u2019 plans for its fifth U.S. RLT plant have yet to be revealed. At the same time, the company also said it would chart expansions at the RLT facilities in Indiana, New Jersey and California.<\/p>\n The Carlsbad, California, site officially came online<\/a> last November, at the time marking the company\u2019s third production hub for radiopharmaceuticals in the U.S. The 10,000-square-foot facility has been designed to enable Novartis to \u201cseamlessly meet future demand for RLT,\u201d the company said at the time of the ribbon cutting.<\/p>\n RLTs, also known as radiopharmaceuticals, are a form of precision medicine that wed a tumor-targeting molecule\u2014known as a ligand\u2014with a therapeutic radioisotope. The class is designed to deliver radiation to tumors while limiting damage to surrounding cells, Novartis has explained.<\/p>\n However, the radioactive isotopes used to create the drugs have posed production and supply challenges<\/a> for the industry.<\/p>\n Given the close relationship between the production of the product and the end-therapy itself, many radiopharmaceutical developers have embraced<\/a> manufacturing early on in their work.<\/p>\n Recognizing the supply hurdles, Novartis in Sept. 2024 announced that it was building<\/a> a new plant on its Indiana RLT campus to produce radioactive isotopes. The reveal came in tandem with news that Novartis would establish its RLT manufacturing site in California.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are investing in our supply chain capabilities today to ensure that we are prepared to consistently deliver these complex treatments to the growing number of eligible patients in the long term,\u201d\u00a0Victor Bult\u00f3, Novartis\u2019 U.S. president, said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n In addition to its U.S. sites, Novartis also operates RLT facilities in Ivrea, Italy, and Zaragoza, Spain.<\/p>\n